The field of the invention relates generally to monitoring systems and, more particularly, to a monitoring system for use with systems and methods for use in monitoring machines within systems.
During operation of known machines, one or more components may become damaged or worn over time. For example, components, such as bearings and gears, wear over time. Continued operation with a worn or damaged component may cause additional damage to other components and/or may lead to a premature failure of the component.
To detect component damage within machines, the operation of at least some known machines may be monitored with a sensor and/or monitoring system. At least some known sensor systems position at least one sensor assembly in close proximity to the machine and/or component being monitored. Such sensor assemblies may perform, for example, proximity measurements of at least some of the components of the machine and/or the machine itself. However, in some locations, because of the relatively close location of the sensor assembly to the machine and/or component, a user may be unable to readily access data directly from the sensors.
Such sensor systems have a central data base that may be accessible from a computing device, such as a personal computer (“PC”). There is little or no local display of the data at the machines and or sensor assemblies themselves. Even if there is a local display of the data at the machine and/or the sensor assembly, such display generally only includes real-time data and does not display historical data. Such sensor systems require the use of a PC to retrieve any data from each machine and/or sensor assembly.